War Paint
by Nightflame203
Summary: All Elouise Bringdown wants is to leave L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. She hates it, and she hates her brother, who bullied her into joining. When she agrees to spy on the organization for O.W.C.A, she can never imagine the path it will lead her down, one full of struggle and, surprisingly, love. OC/OC, a story I'm writing with VibeQuake
1. Chapter 1

**It's another story that I'm posting! :D And, as you saw in the summary, it's a collaboration with VibeQuake, another user here on Fanfiction with epic stories (that you should totally go check out ;P). I've done other stories with her, but this one will be different. Instead of each of us writing on chapter at a time, we wrote one paragraph at a time (or occasionally one sentence or two paragraphs) over PMs, then combined it all together :D So I'm giving her just as much credit as I'm giving myself for each chapter xD xD**

 **I'm also going to try and do a slightly different disclaimer this time. I'm going to (generally) mention all the characters that will be appearing in this story now, and say who owns them. Just once xD xD**

 **VibeQuake and I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. VibeQuake owns Apollo, Artemis, Kane, Kirk, and Patty. I own Katrina, Elouise, and Kiki. THE OTHER CHARACTERS ARE PART OF THE ACTUAL SHOW AND NEITHER OF US OWN THEM**

Katrina gently finished bandaging the chihuahua's arm. "There you go, darling," she smiled to Pinky. "Now, don't go on any more missions until I say you can. Got it?"

Pinky nodded, smiling up at Katrina. "Thanks. That feels a lot better."

"No problem, darling. It's my job."

Pinky got down off the bed and headed towards the door. As he went through, a young, blonde man in a white lab coat came past him and into the room.

Katrina raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, darling?"

"Apollo Hastings," the man replied. "I'm a doctor. Would you be Katrina?"

"Yes. Does Major Monogram know you're here?"

"He's the one who assigned me here," Apollo replied. "I'm to assist you in medical duties."

"Really?" Katrina thought for a moment. "I suppose I'm not getting any younger. Help would be appreciated."

"I won't get in your way," Apollo said. "All I wish to do is be a great doctor."

"Darling, don't worry about getting in my way. It doesn't matter if you do or not, especially since this isn't a full-blown hospital."

"Okay." Apollo moved closer towards Katrina, out of the doorway. "It's just that everywhere I've been so far, people have complained that I'm in the way."

"Well, don't worry, sweetheart. I won't," Katrina reassured.

"Good, because the last thing I want is to be in the way of the more experienced doctor."

"Well, how do you gain more experience? By doing more." Katrina grinned. "I might very well end up letting you do a lot more than you'd expect."

Apollo grinned. "That's just what I was hoping for, actually."

"Good, because I don't know how much longer my old bones can carry on."

"You don't look that old to me, ma'am," Apollo said.

Katrina smiled. "Well, thanks for the compliment, darling, but I'm certainly not young anymore."

"Alright, well, let's get started," Apollo said. "Is there anything pressing that needs to be done?"

"Not yet," Katrina replied, settling down into a chair. "I just finished up with a patient. I don't think we have anything to do until someone needs us again."

A black and white panda suddenly staggered through the door and collapsed onto the ground, a pool of blood growing underneath him.

"Peter!" Katrina gasped. "Apollo, bandages." She leaped out of her chair- very quickly for her age- and gently picked him up and set him on the bed. Apollo got the stuff that was needed, and the two quickly began working on helping Peter out.

"What's causing all this blood?" Apollo gasped.

"Hm..." Katrina gently maneuvered different parts of the bear around, apologizing every time she felt or heard him react in pain.

"There," Apollo said, gently moving Peter's arm out of the way and pointing to a long gash along the panda's side.

Katrina grabbed the bandages and began to gently yet quickly wrap them around the panda bear. Apollo kept his hands on Peter's shoulders to prevent the panda from moving too much.

Once Katrina was done, she ushered Apollo out of the room. "We need to let him rest for a little before asking him questions," she instructed.

Apollo nodded. "Okay, I'll go visit my sister, then."

"Who is your sister?" Katrina inquired. "Would I know her?"

"I think so. She works here as O.W.C.A's psychiatrist."

Katrina blinked. "Oh, Artemis is your sister. That makes sense."

"Yeah, so I'll be back in half an hour. Is that enough time?"

Katrina nodded. "Sure thing, sweetheart."

"Oh, by the way, I think Kane was looking for you," Apollo said as he was walking off.

"Got it, darling." Katrina looked over at Peter, who was currently unconscious. _I can leave him alone for a few minutes,_ she decided finally.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, this chapter's really short. But the chapters will get longer, don't worry ;P**

Kane was rifling through papers on his desk when Katrina cautiously entered his office. Looking around, the place seemed to be in a larger mess than normal.

"Kane? Is everything alright, darling?"

Kane turned to look at her, and she was startled to see such dark bags under his eyes. "Everything's fine," he said, his voice sounding hoarse, as if he hadn't used it in a while. "Can you help me look for the file on Doctor David Bringdown?"

"Kane, you're not okay," Katrina said firmly. "Rest."

"I need that file!" Kane pushed a whole stack of papers off his desk, hopped over them, and raced over to the filing cabinet in the corner, accidentally crashing into it.

"Kane... There are such things as priorities, sweetheart."

"That file IS a priority," Kane said, rifling through papers in his drawers. "I need that file to help me get information on my spy!"

"And will that information be any help if you can't think straight?" Katrina paused. "Wait. Spy?"

"Spy, yes," repeated Kane irritably, angrily knocking over his filing cabinet. "My spy in L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

"Why are you so anxious about this?"

"Because I just realized that I know next to nothing about my spy," Kane snapped, now standing on top of his desk and looking around the room like a pirate in a crow's nest. "I know he won't betray me because I have something he wants, but I'd prefer to know my spies."

"So the spy is Dr. Bringdown?"

"No," Kane said, wobbling on his desk. "Now I'm just getting information on all the members of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. that I can so that I can bring them down. Ha, pun!" He laughed far too hard at his own joke.

Katrina walked over to him. "Kane. Sleep. Now."

"My bed's over there," Kane said, pointing out the window. "It was in my way, so I moved it outside."

Katrina went over to the window and peered out. Sure enough, through the semi-darkness, she managed to make out the outline of a bed on the grass down below.

"Kane-" she sighed.

But she was interrupted. "Katrina, Kane!" Apollo burst through the door. "Artemis is missing!" he gasped.

 **Dun, dun, DUN!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh, if anyone's curious about why this is updating so fast, ti's because VibeQuake and I have already finished this story xD xD xD**

Kane leapt off the desk, did a forward roll, and ran over to Apollo, who stumbled backwards into the wall. "What?!" Kane yelled.

"I went to see Artemis but she wasn't there," Apollo said frantically. "There was a puddle of blood under her chair..."

Katrina gasped. "I-I'm really worried about where she could have gone," fretted Apollo. "I've asked all the agents I met on the way here if they saw anything, but nobody has. Do you have CCTV footage in the counselling rooms?"

"'Course not." Kane frowned. "That would be an invasion of-" All of a sudden, he slumped to the floor, curled up, and fell deeply asleep.

Apollo had never been more confused in his life. "What just happened?"

"Kane hasn't heen acting normal," Katrina explained worriedly.

"Lack of sleep?" Apollo asked dryly, giving Kane a soft kick in the arm, which got no reaction.

"Yeah."

"What exactly should we do now?" Apollo asked. "I mean...I kind of need Kane to help me find Artemis, but clearly he needs sleep."

Katrina paused in thought. "Artemis probably went missing around the same time Peter came to the office. They must be connected. You go tell Major Monogram what's going on, and I'll see if Peter's able to talk yet."

Apollo nodded worriedly. "O-okay."

The nurse smiled weakly, nodded, and hurried back to her office to see if Peter was alright. The panda was conscious but twitching in pain. "Katrina..." he croaked, reaching towards her. "P-pain..."

"I know, darling," she soothed, gently stroking him where it didn't hurt. "I know."

"Is th-there any m-medicine to make it stop..?"

There was, but Katrina knew he'd be in even more pain after it wore off- normally, she didn't even give it as an option to her patients because they'd stubbornly choose it anyway. "Sorry, darling... But it won't take a very long time to wear off naturally."

"O-okay," Peter rasped, feeling his side.

"Sweetheart..." Katrina hesitated. "What happened to you?"

"I-I was having a session with Artemis," Peter croaked. "Just a checkup, since I've been feeling down lately. All I remember is that I was with Artemis, then I felt pain in my side, and then I woke up just down the corridor from here..."

Katrina gently rubbed Peter's ears. "Thank you, darling. Now... I need you to try and get some more rest."

Peter nodded and lay back. Just ten seconds later, he was asleep. Katrina sighed and left to go look for Apollo.

They bumped into each other in front of Major Monogram's office. "Katrina! Did Peter say anything?"

"He said that all he remembered was talking with Artemis, suddenly feeling a pain in his side, and waking up not far from the medical office."

"He was with Artemis?" Apollo stared at Katrina. "There WAS a connection between his injury and her disappearance, then!"

Katrina grinned, deciding to poke a little bit of fun at Apollo. "What, you didn't believe me?"

To her disappointment, Apollo didn't react to the teasing. "Something must have attacked the two of them while they were in there," he mused.

All of a sudden, there was a crash from Kane's office. Apollo and Katrina raced for the office- once again, Katrina was surprisingly fast for her age. She WAS still behind Apollo, though.

When they reached Kane's office, they found Kane himself now awake again and hurling papers out of the window.

"Kane!" Katrina placed a hand on his shoulder. "What on earth is going on?!"

"Papers!" Kane yelled, throwing a box of paper clips at Apollo, who effortlessly ducked.

Katrina- with a bit of help from Apollo- forced Kane to sit down. "Kane. Explain. Now."

Kane sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, Katrina. My spy finally got in contact, and it was not news I wanted to hear."

"What's going on?"

Kane grimaced. "Katrina, you're one of my oldest confidantes. Apollo, you're one of my best friends. But please... Please understand that I can't tell you about my spy, okay?"

"Then how can we help?" Katrina asked gently.

Kane chuckled. "For now, how about you see to making me get some sleep?"

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "If you're telling us to do that right now, then why do you need us to do it? You obviously know to get some sleep yourself."

"Because when I'm stressed and sleep deprived, I tend to go...well..." Kane looked up at Katrina. "You've seen me sleep-deprived. I might turn back into that any minute. So I will go straight to bed now, but I might very well snap again on the way there." He looked pleadingly up at Katrina. "Please..."

"Of course, darling," Katrina smiled sympathetically.

Kane got to his feet and suddenly stumbled into Katrina, who helped him stand upright. "Man... Obsessing over something really takes it out of a guy," he sighed.

"I bet it does."

"Thanks for putting up with me," Kane sighed, as Katrina led him out of his office.

"No need to thank me, darling. It's my job to help people- whether animals or humans."

"Yeah, but it's not your job to calm down delusional mission controllers and force them to get their sleep when they're an adult who should know how to do it himself," Kane sighed.

Katrina chuckled. "Everyone has their moments."

"I don't feel like just a mission controller," Kane muttered. "Sometimes I feel like I'm doing Major Monogram's job..."

"Has he asked you to do something he should do before?"

"Technically, the existence of my job is technically asking me to do something he should be doing," Kane pointed out. "I used to be a field agent, but Major Monogram decided he needed a mission controller to give all the agents their missions, when he's actually been doing that perfectly well himself for years."

"Because L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. has become more of a threat than it used to be," Katrina reminded. "He's had more to do and has been more stressed out and busier than he used to be."

"Ten bucks says I'm more stressed than he is," grumbled Kane. "But I get what you're saying, Katrina, thanks."

"No problem, darling."

Kane kept sighing as Katrina took him to his room, where his bed had not yet been retrieved. Luckily, there was a soft couch, which was what Katrina lay him on. As she turned to leave, Kane caught her wrist. "Can I tell you something in strict confidence?"

"Sure thing. What is it?"

Kane hesitated. "My... My younger brother is a member of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

"Oh..." Katrina gave him a sympathetic look. "You poor thing. That must be hard."

"I wish I could say he's my spy, and he isn't really part of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, but..." Kane sighed. "...but Kirk's always had his own set of ideals, and they contrast highly with mine."

"I understand, darling," Katrina smiled sympathetically.

"I just hope he isn't causing too much trouble there..."

"If he is, it would be just as much as the rest of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. causes."

"Kirk's ideals are different even from the rest of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N," said Kane. "I fear that if he does cause trouble there, he will be hurt. Despite everything, I love my brother."

"Of course you do."

 **(...)**

In L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. headquarters, Kirk Kennedy was currently working on a new laser ray of his that he would be able to use to defend himself with. He was working late; everybody else had gone back to their homes for the night. However, he didn't know that one L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. scientist was still in the building and that she was on her way up.

"Kirk?" The voice rang through the air. "It's Elouise. What are you doing?"

Kirk jumped sideways in fright, tripping over his toolbox, which made a massive crashing sound. Glaring at the toolbox, Kirk got to his feet and went back to his workbench. "Working on something. You?"

"Checking on you."

"How come?" Kirk asked causally, not looking at her. "Do the other scientists get such a privilege?"

Elouise Bringdown hesitated. "You're different from the others."

Kirk grinned. "Aww, is it because I'm the youngest?"

"No... That's not it..."

Kirk raised his eyebrows and held up the gun to the light. "Then what is it?"

"I'm special."

"Then that's why I'm here."

"Are you concerned about me?" Kirk asked mockingly, aiming the gun at the wall.

"It depends on what you're thinking by 'concerned'."

"Just tell me why you're here," ordered Kirk, tossing the gun back onto the workbench.

"I already did," Elouise replied coolly.

"Fine. If there's nothing else, then leave me to my work."

Elouise hesitated before turning to walk out of the room, leaving Kirk in silence.

Kirk groaned at the gun. "How am I ever going to get you finished in time?" Little did he know that Elouise was right outside the room, silently watching him.

"Rodney'll never see this coming," he chuckled quietly.

When Kirk turned around, Elouise quickly crept off. Eyes narrowed, Kirk packed up his things and left the lab.

Once Elouise was sure Kirk was gone, she pulled out her notepad and scribbled some things down. He needed to know this.

 **Welp, Elouise finally appeared xD**


	4. Chapter 4

Apollo was pacing up and down the medical office. He wasn't able to get any sleep over his worry for Artemis.

Katrina walked in the room. "Apollo, you need to rest. Do you want to wind up like Kane?"

"I had a nap earlier, just before I came here. I have enough energy to carry on like this for a while." Apollo sighed at Katrina's raised eyebrow. "I can't sleep, Katrina. Artemis has been the most important person in my life for twenty-two years. I'm just so worried about her."

Katrina's face relaxed into a sympathetic smile. "Of course you are, darling. Twins are even closer than normal siblings."

Apollo smiled weakly. "I bet you're tired of people blathering about their problems to you, aren't you?"

Katrina shook her head with a grin. "I actually enjoy it."

"Maybe you should be a part time counsellor," joked Apollo.

"I actually was also the- unspoken, official- counselor before your sister joined."

"Oh, that makes sense." Apollo paused. "Do you have any idea where she could be?"

Katrina sighed. "Honestly, I think it's L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. All the stuff that's happened today... I think they're the most logical explanation."

Apollo sighed. "Yeah..."

"This is still a lot different than what L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. normally does..."

"Yeah," Apollo said again. "Why DID they take Artemis, I wonder? What could they need her for?"

"I don't know," Katrina replied truthfully.

"What if they're hurting her?" Apollo fretted.

"Why would they do that?" Katrina asked rhetorically. "Kidnapping is dark enough for L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. Darling, I don't think even Rodrigo or Rodney would be hurting her that badly."

"She... She's not as stable as she pretends she is," Apollo said. "Even if they're not hurting her, they could be testing -inators on her or something!"

Katrina hesitated and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry." Apollo stared out the window. "I need to calm down."

"It's okay, darling."

"Is there any medicine here that will help me sleep?" Apollo asked.

Katrina shook her head. "You don't want to use that. It's for the patients- besides, using it too much might make you reliant on it to sleep, and that wouldn't be good."

Apollo leant back against the wall and ran his fingers through his hair, breathing heavily. "I can't carry on like this, Katrina. I can't stay awake and torture myself but I can't sleep either."

Katrina glanced at the ground. "Does Major Monogram know that Artemis is missing yet?"

"I told him just before I tried to retire for the night," Apollo groaned. "He said he planned to wait until morning before he did anything."

Katrina sighed. "Well, that makes sense."

"I know, but it really doesn't help my peace of mind," sighed Apollo.

"Mine either," Katrina admitted.

Apollo gnashed his teeth together. "That's it; I'm going out to look for her."

"No!" Katrina snapped firmly. "You need to rest before you go facing L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, Apollo!"

"I can't!" Apollo shot back. "I cannot physically go to sleep! Do you know why? Because Artemis and I have a psychic link, and when she's not close to me, I can't physically rest. It's the same with her, so I-I need to get near her so that she can be at ease!"

"It won't be any good if both of you are lost!"

Apollo suddenly bent over, clutching his stomach as if he was about to be sick. Katrina grabbed him and forced him to sit on a chair. "Apollo?"

"Artemis," Apollo forced out. "She's sick, I can feel it."

Katrina hesitated. "Darling..."

"It's okay," Apollo said, clearing his throat. "I'll tell you if it gets worse. For now, I should try and have another crack at getting some sleep."

"That's a good idea."

Apollo gave Katrina a weak smile. "Goodnight, Katrina."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

 **(...)**

The next morning, Kirk arrived early to find Elouise waiting for him outside his lab. "Hey," she said. "Need any help with anything today?"

Kirk narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why...?"

Elouise grinned. "Because I'm bored, and everyone else is either annoying or not here yet."

"Hmm... Fine, then."

Elouise followed Kirk into his lab, purposefully avoiding asking him what he was building. "Here." Kirk handed her a pile of stuff. "Make yourself useful."

Elouise blinked. "And do what?"

"Sort them into different piles."

"According to what?" Elouise asked.

"According to whether they're a machine part or a tool!" Kirk snapped. "If all you're gonna do is ask questions, then you may as well just leave me to it."

"Sorry I can't read your mind."

Kirk grumbled to himself as he snatched a wrench from the pile in Elouise's arms and stormed over to a workbench.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Elouise muttered.

Kirk didn't hear her. Throwing a white sheet over something on his workbench, he moved over to the base of some kind of ray in the corner.

Elouise glanced over at him occasionally while sorting out the pile. As Kirk worked on the base of the ray, she heard him mutter, "Never gonna get this finished for Rodney on time."

Elouise raised an eyebrow. _Oh?_

Kirk wiped sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and continued to tinker, though there was something in the base of the machine that was emitting a lot of heat, causing him to sweat even more.

Elouise noticed it, too. "Kirk? What's that?"

Kirk took off his lab coat and threw it against the wall, not saying anything, and knelt down to fiddle with the base.

"Kirk?"

"It's just a simple furnace to keep this thing going," Kirk snapped.

Elouise noticed that gray smoke was seeping out of the "furnace" and straight into Kirk's face. "Quite the strong furnace," Elouise snapped back.

Kirk glared across at her. "All it's doing is keeping the machine warm, okay?"

Elouise cocked her head. "Why does it need to be SO hot?"

"I don't know!" Kirk yelled. "It's what Rodney asked for, and if he doesn't get exactly what he wants, then he'll-" He broke off sharply and turned away, unconsciously rubbing his shoulder.

"Kirk, he'll do what?" Elouise asked gently.

"He'll hurt me," Kirk said quietly, almost like a child. Elouise could see fear in his face. "He uses fear to keep the others in line, but I'm not intimidated by him. He found that out and decided to punish me for my failures in a different way."

"Oh... Kirk..."

Kirk sighed heavily. "E-Elouise...will you help me complete this?"

"That's what I've been doing, right?"

"I-I mean properly..." Kirk held the wrench out to her. "Please?"

 **So how do people feel about Kirk? xD**


	5. Chapter 5

Elouise hesitated. "Then what do you need to make?"

"I'm still not entirely sure," Kirk admitted. "He gave me the blueprints without a title. They're over there." He pointed to his workbench.

"Okay." Elouise walked over and stared at the blueprints. "Have you asked him what you're working on?"

"Of course I did," Kirk replied. "I don't usually work on things unless I know what I'm building, but he refused. Rather violently."

"So he wants you to build something but won't tell you what to build," Elouise stated flatly.

"Exactly," Kirk said, eyes dark.

Elouise remembered what Kirk had said the night before: "Rodney'll never see this coming." Was Kirk planning to double cross Rodney?

"Kirk..." she began hesitantly. "Are you going to do something to Rodney?"

Kirk froze briefly, but he regained his composure too quickly for Elouise to be sure that he had even reacted. "Depends what you mean by that. I'm considering shooting him with his own ray, yeah."

"Has he really been that bad to you?" Elouise asked softly.

"It's not just the physical abuse," Kirk sighed. "It's...everything. He treats me like a child, he never considers my ideas, he works me like a dog, he expects me to do everything he wants me to without asking questions, and I especially hate the way that he acts as if everybody around him exists for the sole purpose of enslavement."

"Then why are you even part of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N?"

"Because this is the only place in the world that offers me exactly what I want."

Elouise hesitated. "What's that?"

Kirk was silent for a few moments. "To take my brother down," he said eventually.

Elouise's eyes widened. "Kirk, he... He's your BROTHER...!"

"He's a goody-goody," snarled Kirk. "Always has been. Always will be. We have exactly the same skill set AND skill level, so how dare HE always get everything better than me? Ever since we were kids, it's always been about him! ALWAYS!" Kirk slammed his fist into the ground.

"Kirk..." Elouise hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder. "Does he even know this?"

"Of course he does," Kirk snapped at the wall. "He's got a nice, high-up, well-paid job in the Organization Without A Cool Acronym, while I sit in here, building an unknown machine for the person I hate second most in this world, for no wages!"

"Well... You can change... If you would let go of your jealousy and try and make your own way in the world, you might end up in a better spot than he is."

"I've tried," moaned Kirk. "I've already been fired from two jobs and a company I used to work for went bankrupt. I've tried to make an honest living, but to fail over and over again while your brother succeeds... I-I just... I can't bear it."

Elouise stared sympathetically at him. Kirk looked genuinely hurt and upset. "Have you gone to him for help?"

At Kirk's stare, Elouise looked at the ground. "That's what siblings are for," she said quietly. "Do be there for each other. To help each other. To give each other advice. Or, at least, that's what they should do."

An uncomfortable silence followed this.

Eventually, Kirk said, "I might not be the best at social interaction, but even I can tell that something to do with a sibling of yours is bothering you."

Elouise glanced away coldly. "You know that David Bringdown's my twin brother," she said. "I've tried to help him, but, in return, all he ever does is make me do stuff. I'm practically his slave at times. On the best days- which don't come very often- it feels more like he's my boss at a job. Is your relationship with your brother anything like that?"

"If my brother was Rodney, then yeah," Kirk said jokily, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "But seriously, I'm sorry. I've been whining about my brother being better than me when your brother literally treats you like a slave. Do you need anything?"

"Try to get along with your own brother," Elouise pushed. "Show me that not all siblings have bad relationships. Talk to him. Peacefully."

Kirk grimaced. "I don't think I can do that... I'm sorry."

"Why not?"

"Pride," sighed Kirk. "Pride, pure and simple. Even though I can't bear sitting back and watching him be successful, I'd be able to bear it less if I had to go and talk to him. Not just that, but... Kane could and probably would lock me up if I went over there."

Elouise raised an eyebrow. "Who said you had to meet up at O.W.C.A? And... Well... Does your brother even know how you feel about this?"

Kirk snorted. "Of course not. He doesn't care about me enough to ask, and I don't care about him enough to tell." But his voice was shaking by the end of the sentence, indicating that he didn't mean it.

"Kirk..."

Kirk looked up at Elouise. "For you, I'll try," he said. "I hate disappointing people that I care about."

A red tint came to Elouise's cheeks. "W-what do you mean?"

Kirk also looked slightly red. "W-well... You're the first person here who's even been nice to me, let alone taken the time to listen to me rant about my brother issues. So... Thanks."

Elouise grinned. "There's more than meets the eye to everyone. That's what I always have to remind myself."

Kirk smirked. "Even me?"

"You just confessed plenty of things I doubt almost anyone else knew about. Everyone has at least one secret."

Kirk sighed. "I wish I didn't. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I dislike having secrets. Secrets can be used against you and, therefore, are weaknesses. I aim to have no weaknesses."

"So does everyone else. But we all fail," Elouise sighed.

Kirk smiled. "I hope I can say this without it being too weird, but you're pretty. Especially when you care."

Elouise blushed a bright red. "W-w-well, t-t-thank you."

"And I don't generally say things I don't mean when it comes to this. I'm not trying to flirt, I-I just thought you should know."

"Thank you," Elouise said truthfully, still feeling the red on her cheeks.

For some reason, she took comfort in the fact that Kirk was also blushing slightly as he turned away.

"L-let's get this thing done," he said.

"Good idea."

 **(...)**

Apollo, Kane, and Katrina were waiting outside Major Monogram's office, waiting to be called in and be told the plan to get Artemis back. "What's taking so long?" Apollo groaned.

Kane patted Apollo on the back. "It's okay, Apollo. He's just taking his time."

"Because we can totally take our time with this!"

"Apollo, please calm down," Kane said, forcing Apollo to sit in one of the chairs outside the office. "Panicking won't help."

Apollo sighed. "You... You're right."

Just then, the door opened and Carl poked his head out. Before the intern could say anything, Apollo surged to his feet and rushed past him. "Um... You can come in now...?"

Apollo raced straight into Major Monogram's office and skidded to a halt beside the major's desk. "Sir, have you found Artemis?"

"No, Apollo," the Major sighed. "I haven't started looking yet."

Apollo groaned and hit the wall with his fist. "Then get looking!"

"Apollo, I know you're worried about her, but we can't be rash about this."

"RASH?!" At Katrina's sympathetic yet warning look, Apollo forced himself to calm down. "Sir, I'm sure L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. have her. We-we need information."

Major Monogram sighed. "Well, I guess we could get a couple of agents to look for her and report back to me when they find her..."

"Actually, sir, that won't be necessary," Kane spoke up. "If she is with L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, well... I have a spy."

Major Monogram stared at Kane. "You...wait, what?"

"I have a spy in L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

Major Monogram continued to stare at Kane. "For how long, exactly?"

"A couple of months now."

The Major sighed. "Is there any point in asking who it is?"

"Nope."

The Major sighed again. "Well then, how long will it take for your spy to find out if Artemis is there?"

"I'm not sure," Kane admitted.

"Well, how often do you get updates from your spy?"

Kane hesitated. "It depends on the amount of information and how important the information is, but, normally, a couple of days. But I'm sure that he'd tell us immediately if he realized where Artemis was being held captive."

"What's your usual method of passing along information?"

"Sir, why is this important?"

Major Monogram narrowed his eyes. "Because, in case you've forgotten, one of our two doctors is missing his sister and time is of the essence."

Kane sighed. "I'll go contact him."

Major Monogram dismissed the three of them with a wave of his hand. Though none of them were happy to be dismissed in that manner, they obediently left the office.

 **Poor Apollo : ( What about Poor Kirk? Anyone?**


	6. Chapter 6

Katrina sighed and shook her head. "That could have gone better."

"At least he didn't force you to tell him about your spy," Apollo offered.

"You're right," Kane agreed.

"So what now?" asked Apollo.

"I'm going to contact my spy and explain what's going on." With that, Kane walked off to his office.

Apollo sighed. "I wish I could follow him and eavesdrop, but that'd be deceitful, especially because he's my friend."

"It does make you curious, though, doesn't it?" Katrina mused thoughtfully.

"Yeah... It does..."

Katrina chuckled. "Well, if we're patient, then we should find out some day."

"I hope so."

"And I suppose we'll survive if we never find out."

Apollo chuckled. "I guess we would, but I'd rather find out. I hate it that Kane has to keep this a secret."

"That makes sense," Katrina grinned.

 **(...)**

Kirk finally stood up, shaking his numb legs. He winced as he felt them erupt into pins and needles. "Agh..." He grinned down at Elouise. "I'm going to get some fresh air. You can keep working, or you can join me, or you can stay here and take a break. Your choice."

"I... I think I'll join you."

Kirk raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

Elouise grinned. "What: changed your mind? Don't want me along?"

Kirk shook his head hurriedly. "No, no. I just didn't expect you to actually want to voluntarily spend more time with me."

"I'd rather do that than be alone," Elouise grinned.

Kirk smirked. "So it's me or loneliness, and you picked me? I'm flattered."

Elouise blushed. "There aren't many other L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. scientists I'd pick over loneliness."

Kirk also blushed. "L-let's go then, shall we? Before one of us says something else that keeps us in here all day."

"G-G-good idea."

Kirk and Elouise left the L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. base and went for a walk in the field next to it. "S-so, K-Kirk..." Elouise began hesitantly, "what do you like to do?"

"For fun?" Kirk asked.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "I'd assume you do what you like to for fun."

Kirk sighed. "I don't really have time for fun nowadays. I guess I tinker a lot with things I've already made, or draw up blueprints for new things I want to make."

"What about when you were younger?"

"Kane and I used to play," Kirk said reminiscently. "We were anything and everything. Pirates, kings, unicorns... even mermaids." Elouise chuckled at the thought.

"What about you?" Kirk asked. "Have you and David always been...has your relationship always been strained?"

Elouise chuckled more. "He WAS always the bossier one out of the two of us..."

"So what did you do for fun when you were kids?"

"Honestly, not much," Elouise sighed. "For twins, we're probably the furthest apart there is. When we were younger, he would always hang out with his friends and never EVER let me join in."

"That sucks," Kirk commented sympathetically.

"Yeah," sighed Elouise.

"So what about nowadays?"

Elouise scoffed. "Well, you know very well that we don't have any fun moments together nowadays, if that's what you mean."

"No, no!" Kirk said hurriedly. "I-I mean... What do you do for fun nowadays?"

"Hmm..." Elouise paused in thought. "I like bird-watching," she admitted after several minutes.

Kirk smiled. "That sounds peaceful. Can you see any birds here?"

Elouise sighed. "Nope, and they have good reason not to be."

"Yeah... It's a shame..."

"Kirk?" Elouise glanced over at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Kirk stood up straighter. "Just reminiscing."

"Isn't reminiscing hard, though?"

"Emotionally, yeah."

"So are you REALLY okay?"

"Yes," Kirk replied firmly. "I promise."

Elouise still looked hesitant. "If you say so..."

"I really do."

"Alright," Elouise sighed. "Do you want to get back to work?"

Kirk exhaled deeply. "Yeah. Yeah, let's go."

When they went back inside, however, Elouise heard a small beeping- luckily, Kirk didn't hear it. As Kirk headed straight into the lab, Elouise hung outside.

She pulled out her communicator, and, after checking and double checking to make sure no one was around or watching, she turned it on. "Yeah?"

"Elouise. Any information to report?"

Elouise hesitated. Kirk trusted her, but she had a job to do- there was one thing she wasn't going to tell Kane. Not yet, anyway. "Rodney gave Kirk a mysterious blueprint to work on- not even Kirk knows what it is... I think it was something to do with a heat laser, but I'm not sure yet."

"Rodney didn't tell Kirk what he was working on?" Kane sounded surprised. "That's new."

"Kirk's considering using it on Rodney himself once he's done making it," Elouise admitted.

"As tempted as I am to let that happen, please make sure he doesn't."

"Of course not." Elouise paused. "And he might actually listen to me..."

"Really?" Elouise heard the smile in Kane's voice. "Why would that be?"

"He... He opened up to me earlier..."

On the other side of the line, Kane grinned. "Did he now?"

"Hey... What's up with that tone?" Elouise demanded, feeling her cheeks turn red.

"Nothing at all. Just... Kirk doesn't open up to just anyone. He thinks talking about thoughts and feelings is admitting weakness, and that's something Kirk absolutely despises. If he opens up to you, then he must think you're special."

Elouise could feel her cheeks redden even more. "W-w-w-well..."

"I approve of you and my little brother dating," teased Kane.

Instead of protesting, Elouise just paused. "Seriously?"

"I'm joking, Elouise. I was trying to lift the mood. Anyway, I have a job for you."

"Yeah?"

"My doctor's twin sister's gone missing and one of my agents has been attacked, both at the same time. We think L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. might be responsible."

"So you want me to look for proof of this? Or something more specific?"

"Does L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. have a prison of some kind?"

"Umm... I think so, yes."

"And if L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. were to capture or kidnap someone, would they put that person in there?"

Elouise blinked in realization. "OH... You want me to find the prisoner they took?"

"I want you to see if my missing person is there, or at the very least if there are any new prisoners."

"Understood. Could you give me a description of her?"

"Long blonde hair, bright blue eyes. Most likely wearing a lab coat. Her name's Artemis."

"Got it." Elouise hesitated and looked over at the building. "I better go, so no one gets suspicious."

"Okay. Good luck, Elouise."

"Thanks." With that, Elouise turned the communicator off and quickly rushed inside.

Kirk glanced over at her when she made it back into the room they were working in. "What took so long?"

"Felt a bit sick," Elouise lied swiftly. "It's okay now, though. Let's get back to work."

"Alright..."

She knew he didn't look entirely convinced, but they both got back to work.

 **I can't even comment on all of this, so I'll leave that to you xD**


	7. Chapter 7

Kane smiled as he turned off his own communicator back at O.W.C.A. His little brother was actually opening up to someone- maybe there really was a chance for Kirk, after all. He decided to head down to the infirmary and inform Apollo of his progress.

Apollo hesitated once Kane was done explaining. "I guess it's a start..." he said hesitantly.

"A start?" Kane repeated incredulously. "Apollo, this is the best we can do right now."

"But it's not enough," Apollo sighed.

"I know that!" Kane snapped. "Apollo, I KNOW THAT! But it's the best we can do, okay?!"

"I-I'm sorry... It's just..." Apollo sighed again. "She's my sister... I feel like I'm just doing NOTHING."

"I know," Kane said again. "And I really am sympathetic towards you, but you have to keep it together. There really is nothing we can do until my spy finds out if she's there or not. If she isn't, we focus our efforts elsewhere. If she is..."

"Then what?" Apollo sighed for the third time.

"Then we extract her," Kane replied, not looking at Apollo.

"Is it really that simple?" blinked Apollo.

"With some work from my spy, I'm sure it can be that simple."

Apollo hesitated. "Kane... Can you trust your spy?"

"Yes," Kane replied instantly. "I've met him in person. Just once, I'll admit. But from our ten minute long meeting, I gleaned valuable information: he isn't evil. He isn't a bad person. He doesn't enjoy being a member of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

"I suppose if you trust him..."

Kane nodded. "I really do. Perhaps not with my life, but certainly with this."

"Alright, then."

 **(...)**

Back in L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, Kirk and Elouise were continuing to work on the machine. It was getting hotter all the time. "Are you SURE nothing's going wrong?" Elouise asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Kirk snapped, crossly tapping the thing with his screwdriver. "It would help if I actually knew what I was building."

Elouise hesitated. "I guess..."

"Maybe it's normal for this thing to be emitting so much heat... Maybe it's a sign that it's going to blow up soon. I don't know..."

"At least we know it won't be your fault if it DOES blow up, right? It'll be Rodney's for not telling you what you're building."

"Thank you," Kirk grinned. "At least you're on my side."

"Of course I am," Elouise grinned back.

"I hope you've been doing more working than flirting," came a cold voice from behind them. Kirk and Elouise whirled around to see Rodney glaring at them, his arms crossed.

"We've been working all day, actually," Kirk said, just as frostily, as he stood up to face Rodney. "On the special...uh... Oh, that's right. I don't know WHAT kind of ray it is because YOU didn't tell me!"

Rodney raised an eyebrow. "And your point is...?"

"What if I do something wrong and it blows up?" Kirk snapped furiously. "What if it just blows up? Do you really want that?"

Elouise watched nervously as Rodney coldly replied, "Then it means you weren't doing your job. You have the blueprints, that's enough. Now get back to work."

Kirk narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. "No. I'm not going to do any more work for you until you tell me what I'm building."

"You have no need to know!" Rodney snapped.

"Then why am I even the one building this?!"

Rodney suddenly lashed out and punched Kirk on the side of the jaw. The force was enough to send the young scientist to the ground. As he lay there, rubbing his jaw in shock, Rodney stood over him and prepared to hit him again.

"STOP!" Elouise shrieked suddenly, stepping in between them. "He's doing the most he can, Rodney! Can't you see that?!"

"I have no use for workers who cannot even perform simple tasks!" Rodney snarled.

"But it's not a simple task!" Elouise yelled. "And since WHEN has he been your worker?!"

"I am the leader of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. He works for L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. Therefore, he is my worker."

"Well, I can think of several members who wouldn't want to stay a part of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. if they find out THIS is how you treat your 'workers'! Is it worth losing more members of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. just for THIS?!"

Rodney narrowed his eyes at her. "Remember your place, Elouise."

"Yeah, and my place is NOT to sit back and watch you hurt my friends!" Elouise snapped.

Rodney abruptly slapped her in the face, turned, and strode out the door. Elouise winced and rubbed her cheek as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Kirk had gotten back up on his feet. "Elouise... You..."

"Are you okay?" she asked him, indicating the large bruise on his jaw.

"I... I'm fine..." Kirk hesitated. "W-why would you do that for me?"

"Because it was completely unfair the way he was treating you," Elouise replied, rubbing her jaw. "You didn't even deserve to get spoken to like that, let alone deserve to get hit in the face."

"Well... T-thank you..."

Elouise smiled. Then, surprising herself, she moved forwards and brought Kirk into a gentle embrace. Kirk blushed a bright red. "El- Elouise?"

"I'm sorry," Elouise said, stepping back. "You just looked like you could use a hug."

Kirk chuckled and smiled weakly, staring at the ground. "Kirk..." Elouise felt sad just looking at poor Kirk. "What do you want to do now?"

"I..." Kirk paused when he saw the red mark on Elouise's cheek. "He slapped you hard, didn't he?"

"It's not a big deal." Elouise didn't meet his eyes.

Kirk's face darkened. "I want to finish that machine."

"The ray?" Elouise asked, playing dumb.

"Yeah."

Elouise nodded. "Okay, then. But what are you going to do once it's finished?"

"Make him regret hurting you."

"Kirk, no!" Elouise said, horrified. "Using the ray against Rodney isn't wise!"

"What's so wrong with it?" he asked coldly.

"We have no idea what that could do to him!"

Kirk hesitated. "Rodney wouldn't make a ray with a positive effect- it doesn't matter what it would do to him."

"I didn't expect to be positive!" Elouise's voice was almost shrill. "It's going to do something horrible to him!"

Kirk glanced at the ground. "He deserves it."

"Nobody deserves it, Kirk. Please."

Kirk hesitated. "I'm not making any promises," he said finally.

Elouise gave a smile. "Thank you, Kirk."

He gave her a weak smile back. "Let's get back to work."

"Good idea."

 **Rodney's a worse jerk in this than in the show xD**


	8. Chapter 8

**I know that I'm adding a lot less ANs to these chapters than normal, and I haven't decided if I like it or not yet xD xD xD**

Katrina gently checked Peter's wound. "You're doing a lot better, darling. I think you'll be free to go in a couple days."

Peter smiled weakly. "Thanks, Katrina. I can't wait to see Kiki again. Can she visit me now that I'm feeling better?"

"Of course, darling."

Peter beamed. "Thanks so much. I really can't wait to see her again and let her know that I'm okay."

Katrina smiled warmly. "That certainly makes sense."

"Can you let her know?" Peter asked hopefully. "I'm feeling a lot better."

"Of course," Katrina grinned. "Apollo?" she called.

Apollo peeked his head around the wall. "Yeah?"

"Keep an eye on Peter, won't you? I need to go find his girlfriend."

Apollo grinned. "Sure."

However, as Katrina was walking down the hall, she and Kane accidentally ran into each other. "Oh! I'm so sorry, darling, I... Are you alright, Kane? You look preoccupied."

Kane blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's exactly what I mean," Katrina grinned. "You look like something's bothering you."

"Just thinking about my spy," Kane said. "Wondering if sh-he will come through with information about Artemis. Goodness knows Apollo needs it."

"Yeah, the poor darling," Katrina sighed sympathetically, looking back at her office.

Kane internally sighed in relief, seeing that Katrina had missed his slip of the tongue. "So where are you off to?"

"Well, have you seen Kiki the fox anywhere?"

Kane frowned. "I think I saw her with Patty the Panda- Peter's sister- by the water cooler on my way up."

"Alright, thanks." Katrina waved and walked off.

Kane stood still in the corridor, watching her leave. When she rounded the corner, he leant forward and purposely hit his head on the wall, pressing the top of his head into the wall.

He had never been so stressed in his life.

 **(...)**

Elouise and Kirk worked on the ray until approximately midnight- and they still weren't done. Kirk yawned and laid his head on the table- Elouise could tell he was struggling to keep his eyes open. "Maybe we should stop for the night."

"Yeah," Kirk said sleepily. "Good idea." Elouise wasn't sure he had even heard what she had said.

Elouise helped him pack up. "I'll be leaving in a little," she explained. "You go on and get some rest- I can finish cleaning up myself."

"Okay. Where do I sleep?" Kirk mumbled, almost delirious.

"At your house. In your bed," Elouise teased, gently helping him to his feet.

"Don't have a house," Kirk croaked. "Or a bed."

Elouise's eyes widened, and she placed a hand to her mouth. "Kirk..."

"Kicked out after I lost my last job," Kirk explained. "Been sleeping here ever since."

"I'm so sorry... W-where do you normally sleep here?"

Kirk pointed to the space under the windowsill, where Elouise saw that a pillow and a blanket were being stored. "Oh. Then you go on and get to sleep. I can wait to clean up."

Kirk began crawling towards the "bed". Elouise watched him go, feeling incredibly sympathetic towards him. She would have invited him to live with her, but... She had some information for and from Kane around her house... Elouise couldn't risk him finding it. As she watched Kirk drag himself into "bed", she thought to herself, _Maybe someday._

Once Elouise was sure Kirk was asleep- less than a minute later- she quietly crept out of the room to search for L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's prisoner.

Naturally, the first place she went to was the prison. It didn't have any guards- because none of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's members really fought- so all she had to do when she reached the door to the prisons was look around to make sure no one was watching, grab the keys, and unlock the door. She went along the line of cells, carefully checking each one for any sign of a prisoner.

She was about halfway down when she heard muffled sobs coming from the opposite end of the prison. Elouise ran down to there and stopped in her tracks. This woman looked exactly how Kane had described.

The woman looked up at Elouise coldly. "What do you want?"

"Are you Artemis?" she asked.

The woman frowned. "H-how do you know that?"

Elouise looked around to make sure no one was watching. "Kane told me. Artemis, I'm a spy in L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. for him, alright?"

Artemis's eyes widened. "K-Kane sent you?"

"Yes," Elouise said firmly.

"D-do you know what I'm doing here?" Artemis asked, fear settling into her face. "I-I have no idea why I was captured."

"Neither do I," admitted Elouise. "But that's what I'm going to find out after telling Kane you're here."

As Elouise turned to walk away, Artemis called, "W-wait!" Elouise turned back.

"Please tell Kane to tell my brother that I love him."

Elouise gave her a warm smile. "Of course."

 **Yay! Artemis is okay!**


	9. Chapter 9

"She's there?" Kane stood up abruptly, clutching his communicator tightly. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Elouise sighed from the other end. "And she looks fine, minus crying and worrying herself sick."

"Sounds like Apollo right about now." Kane's face broke into a relieved smile. "He'll be glad to know she's okay."

"I bet he will be. And I'll keep an eye on Artemis to see if they do something worse to her."

"Thank you, Elouise. Oh, by the way... I have some good news for you."

"Yeah?"

"We're working on a plan to get Artemis out, and it's possible that the plan could account for getting you out too, if you're still eager to leave L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N."

On her end of the communicator, Elouise beamed. "Yeah! Of course!" Her smile faded as she thought about something. "Wait..."

"Yes?"

"Wha-what about Kirk? I... I think..." She paused. "Well, I know that I'm his only friend. If-if I left..."

Kane paused. "If Kirk wants to come too, then he can. If he chooses not to, then there's nothing we can do about it. We'll account for the plan having three people to bring out."

"O-okay. Thanks, Kane."

"Elouise..." Kane paused. "Don't try too hard to save Kirk if he doesn't want to be saved."

Elouise inhaled. "I-I-I know..."

"But maybe..." Kane paused again. "Maybe you ARE the person who will save him."

"Maybe..."

"Do you WANT to save him?"

"M-more than anything," she admitted.

Kane smiled happily. "Then try."

Elouise smiled as well. "I-I will."

"You should go. Good work, Elouise, and good luck."

"Thanks. You, too."

Kane put the communicator down, turned round, and immediately jumped a foot to the left with fright. "Apollo! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry, it's just... You were talking with your spy. Is Artemis...?"

"She's there," Kane told him. "She's scared but unharmed."

Apollo relaxed. "That's great!"

"I'm working on a plan to get her and my spy out." Kane paused. "And possibly my brother, too."

"Your brother?" Apollo blinked.

"Didn't I...? Oh wait... It was Katrina I told." Kane sighed.

"Told what?"

"That my little brother Kirk is a L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. scientist."

"Oh." Apollo blinked. "Willingly?"

"Sometimes I think so. Other times... I really don't know."

"Then... Why do you think your brother might be coming, too?"

"Because my spy really wants to save him. And I really think she can."

Apollo grinned. "That's great."

Kane hesitated, wrestling with whether to say anything or not. "Apollo... Please get Katrina and go to the medical bay. I think it's time I told you two who my spy is."

Apollo nodded. "Got it."

 **(...)**

When Elouise got back to the lab, she saw Kirk curled up under the windowsill, sleeping like a baby. Elouise chuckled and decided to let him sleep. The sun was slowly rising now, but he had stayed up until midnight. She got to work on reorganizing the lab for another long day of building ahead.

As she worked, she had time to reflect on her time with Kirk. She had seen a whole different side to him: the vulnerable child side of him. Deep down, she believed, he was really just a scrappy kid who had issues and chose to act brashly to hide them. It was amazing that they had only even known each other that well a couple of days, and, in some ways, she already knew more about him than Kane did.

She really wished the two brothers could reconcile. She knew how distant they were bugged Kane, and she could tell that Kirk also secretly missed his brother. Maybe she could reunite them. But first she had to convince Kirk to leave L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N.

She hoped she'd be able to. Kirk clearly hated being here, and he was treated roughly by not just Rodney but most of the other scientists. But maybe their close connection would be the thing to convince Kirk to leave.

Elouise shook her head to clear it. She couldn't be rash about this- not even Kirk could know she was a spy. If she hinted too strongly at him to leave L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, he'd start asking her why she wanted him to leave.

She glanced back over at Kirk, a small but stabbing pain in her heart. She knew her brain was right: she couldn't let Kirk know she was a spy, but she couldn't do nothing about it either. All she could do now was hope that the right opportunity to convince him to leave would present itself.

Just as she was finishing up organizing, Kirk began to turn and moan. It was about another minute before he yawned and sat up. "What time is it?" he asked sleepily, yawning.

Elouise glanced over at the clock. "About seven A.M."

Kirk groaned and lay back down. "You can go back to sleep if you need to," Elouise offered. "I can get started without you- you've stayed up really late the past few days."

"Maybe just a couple more hours," Kirk mumbled.

Within a few seconds, he was back asleep. Elouise chuckled and got back to work quietly. However, she found herself falling asleep at the workbench.

The next thing she knew, the sun was high in the sky and she felt that someone had put a blanket around her. Looking round, she saw that Kirk was back working on the machine. "When you said I could go back to sleep, you didn't tell me you had stayed up all night," he said when he noticed she was awake.

"Sorry..."

"Elouise... I appreciate you thinking about me, but you also need to think about yourself."

Elouise smiled at him. "Okay." She got up and walked over to him. "So how's it coming?"

"I think I'm nearly done. Could you have a look at the blueprints and see if there's anything I've missed?"

"Sure." Elouise grabbed the blueprints and combed through them. "Everything seems to be fine."

"Oh, good." Kirk's gaze darkened. "Finally."

"Kirk...?"

Kirk looked over at Elouise. "I'm finally going to make Rodney pay. For everything."

"Kirk, you said you wouldn't!"

"I said I'd try!"

"Kirk…!"

"I'm sorry, but I've been trying to contain my hatred, but I can't, okay? Every time I close my eyes, I see Rodney's sneer as he hit me in the face! I had a NIGHTMARE about him while I was sleeping! I-I really tried... I tried..."

Elouise sighed and placed her hand on Kirk's shoulder. 'Kirk... I am SO sorry for what he's done to you. But this isn't the answer... It might very well turn most of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. against you."

"I don't care," Kirk said furiously. "They already hate me. I really don't care if they turn on me."

"What if I care?!"

Kirk stared at her. "Y-YOU care?"

"Yes, Kirk!" Elouise sighed and looked away. "I... I know we've only known each other for a few days now, but... I-I can't lose you. That's almost definitely what will happen if L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. turns on you."

Kirk hesitated. "You actually...you...? You don't want to lose me?"

Elouise could feel tears coming into her eyes, and she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply to keep her composure. "N-N-No. I-I-I can't."

Kirk didn't know what to feel. His heart and his brain were telling him different things, so he decided to act without thinking. He leant forwards and kissed her on the mouth. But she didn't pull away like he had expected. Quite the opposite: she relaxed into it. So Kirk relaxed into it.

When they eventually broke apart, Elouise slowly looked up at Kirk, placing a couple of fingers on her lips. "S-so..." Kirk couldn't think of anything to say.

"T-t-t-that was actually m-m-my first kiss..." Elouise admitted.

"Me too," Kirk said shyly. "I-it was great f-for a first t-try..."

Elouise blushed a bright red and rubbed the back of her neck. "Y-Y-Y-yeah. I-I-it w-was..."

Kirk attempted a smirk. "Would you... Would you want to try it again?"

Elouise didn't think her cheeks could be any redder than they already were, but she was quickly being proven wrong. "W-w-w-w-well..."

Kirk stepped back, embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry...I...uh..."

"No! No!" Elouise quickly shook her head. "It's fine. I-I-I... I-i-it just caught me off guard..."

Her brain was buzzing. She wondered how Kane would react to the news that she had kissed his little brother... _Maybe I could leave that out until it's more important._

"L-let's finish the ray," Kirk said. "Since we're so close."

Elouise quickly nodded. "G-G-good idea."

"Close to the end, I mean!" Kirk added hurriedly.

"I-I-I get it," Elouise chuckled.

Kirk groaned. "I have never been so tongue tied in my life."

"It's okay- it makes sense."

Kirk grinned. "Let's go finish this thing."

"Yeah."

 **DEY KIIIIISSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDD!**

 **Anyone else fangirling? Or… Is it just me…?**


	10. Chapter 10

Apollo was sitting on one of the empty beds in the hospital, thinking about Artemis. It was good that she was unharmed, but he didn't know how long that would be for.

Katrina came into the room. "You said Kane wanted to talk to us?"

"Yeah," Apollo said. "He should be here soon." As if on cue, Kane stepped into the room.

"I think it's time I told you guys who my spy is," he sighed. "Sit down, Katrina."

Katrina did, and the two began to quietly listen to Kane. "Do you two know David Bringdown?" Kane asked.

"Well, not personally, but I know of him," Katrina replied.

"Well, he has a twin sister called Elouise. She is my spy."

"Ah." Katrina paused. "You said that she's your spy because of something you can offer her... What is it?"

"She desperately wants out of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. She was forced by her brother to join and stay, and she stays because I think she's scared of him. Or at least what he'd do to her. I don't know the details, but she stays against her will.

"I met her a couple of months ago in a chance encounter in Danville Park, and we told each other what we did for a living. She said she hated L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. and would do anything to get out of there. I offered her a deal: she would relay information on L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's activities to me, and in return, I would work on a plan to bring her out."

"Oh... The poor thing..." Katrina murmured.

"Well, she's been relaying information to me for three months now, and I think that's enough. It's time to bring her out. When we rescue Artemis, I'm taking her, too."

"And you said your brother, too, right?" Apollo asked curiously.

Kane nodded. "Yeah, if he wants to."

Apollo hesitated. "But if he willingly joined, why WOULD he want to?"

"Kirk...is lost. His ideals are different from mine, sure, but they're also different from LOVEMUFFIN's. He doesn't truly belong there, and I'm certain he knows it."

Katrina shook her head sadly and sympathetically. Kane looked at her. "What do you think of this, Katrina?"

"About your brother?" Katrina paused. "You're willing to take him back even though you're part of O.W.C.A, and he's currently part of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. I think he doesn't realize how lucky he is he's related to you."

Kane smiled. "Thank you. I hope Elouise can persuade him to leave."

 **(...)**

Working together on the machine was now a bit more awkward for Elouise and Kirk than it had been originally. They kept sneaking glances at each other when the other wasn't looking. At one point, they accidentally touched each other's hands- it was a couple of hours ago, and Elouise's cheeks were still bright red.

Eventually, Kirk couldn't stand the silence, so he went and put the radio on. The music seemed to help them, and the machine was soon finished.

Kirk sighed in relief. "G-glad that's over..."

"Yeah," exhaled Elouise. "It was a lot of work."

Kirk then stood up and went over to the workbench. Elouise spotted him putting the laser gun on the table. "You're not going to use it on Rodney, right?" Elouise asked nervously.

"The ray? No."

She relaxed. "Wh-what made you change your mind?"

"You did."

Elouise blushed. "I-I... I didn't realize I had made that much of an impact."

"On this, you definitely did. Nobody deserves to be hit with a ray if I don't even know what it does." He fiddled with the laser gun.

Elouise sighed. "But should we really give it to Rodney? Maybe there's some sort of plan we could come up with or something..."

"Already have one." Kirk slipped the laser gun into a loop in the side of his jeans.

"What is it?"

Kirk didn't answer. Elouise watched as he headed out the room, with only the laser gun on him. "Kirk?"

He glanced back at her one final time. "Stay here."

Elouise watched fearfully as Kirk left, realizing now what he was going to do. And she had to stop him.

 **WHAT WILL HE DO?! I:} I:}**


	11. Chapter 11

Darting out the room, she spotted Kirk running around the corner. She took off running after him. Elouise froze when he entered the room Rodney was in.

Rodney turned, but Kirk had already fired at him, causing him to fall backwards into the wall. He sat against the wall, staring up at Kirk with an expression of fear on his face. Kirk towered over him, breathing heavily.

"Kirk, STOP!" Elouise yelled, running out of her hiding spot and in between him and Rodney.

Kirk aimed the gun at Rodney, though Elouise was in its path. "Get out of the way."

"No."

"I SAID GET OUT OF THE WAY!" shrieked Kirk, firing a shot into the wall just above Elouise's head.

Elouise winced and ducked but shook her head again. "NO."

"I don't want to hurt you!"

"Then don't," Elouise replied shakily. "If you really don't want to hurt me, then don't hurt Rodney either."

"There's a difference between you and this filth!" Kirk snarled, gesturing the gun at Rodney.

"Kirk..." Elouise hesitantly reached forward and placed her hand on his cheek. "If you kill him out of revenge, then you won't be any better."

Kirk had tears in his eyes. "E-Elouise..."

"I know he's been awful to you, and I know that he's an awful person. But this isn't the way to stop him."

Kirk hesitated.

In that hesitation, Rodney leapt up from the floor, roughly shoved Elouise to the floor, and grabbed Kirk by the throat. "You dare attempt to kill me?!" he yelled.

"LET GO OF HIM!" Elouise screamed.

Rodney kicked her violently in the stomach, causing her to scream in pain and knocking her into her back.

"Don't you dare take it out on her!" Kirk choked furiously. "She did nothing to you!"

"She's defied me twice now!"

"She saved your filthy life," Kirk managed to snarl. "Not that you deserved it!"

Rodney's grip on Kirk's threat tightened.

Elouise quickly recovered and managed to grab the gun, which Kirk had dropped when Rodney attacked. "Let go of him," she said again, this time more quietly, aiming the gun at Rodney. "Or I'll make you."

"You won't do it," Rodney said smugly. "You just persuaded this coward not to do it, so you certainly won't do it yourself."

"You're right," Elouise replied coldly. "I won't kill you. But I WILL make you put him down if you don't do it yourself. Right now."

Rodney narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you."

"E-Elouise," choked Kirk, whose eyes were starting to roll up in their sockets.

"Then that's your problem." Before Rodney could react, Elouise shot him in the leg. He collapsed to the ground with a yell of pain, allowing Kirk to quickly escape his grasp.

He collapsed to his hands and knees, coughing violently. His vision was blurred and he was having trouble concentrating on Elouise's voice as she knelt down next to him and talked to him.

Elouise placed an arm over his back and hugged him gently. "Kirk," she pushed. "Are... Are you okay?"

"I'm...fine..." Kirk wheezed. "R-regaining...oxygen..."

Elouise relaxed before turning to Rodney. "I don't care what you do to me, but don't hurt him." She gave him a cold glare.

Kirk pulled on her sleeve. "Run..." he rasped. "You...have to...run..."

"Why?" she asked, bending back down to him. "He's currently unable to move."

"He...can call...people..." Kirk pointed to Rodney, who had just crawled over to and slammed a button on the wall. Immediately, an alarm rang. "They're... They're coming...for you. You...have to...run..."

Elouise hesitated and glanced worriedly over her shoulder. "Go..."

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before pressing her lips to Kirk's. This time, both were reluctant to pull away.

"What about you?" she asked worriedly.

"Don't worry...about me... Just hide..."

Elouise felt tears come to her eyes. "Kirk..."

The doors burst open. "Out of...time..." Kirk shoved the dropped gun back into her hands. "Go..."

Elouise nodded hesitantly and ran. Kirk watched her disappear, massaging his throat. "Good luck, Elouise," he whispered.

 **Welp…..**


	12. Chapter 12

Kane was sitting in his office when, suddenly, he got a call on the communicator. Kane quickly picked up. "Elouise? This is sooner than normal; is everything okay?"

Elouise's voice at the other end sounded panicked and shaky. "K-Kane!" Her voice was quiet. "I-I-I don't have m-much time."

Kane stood up sharply. "Is everything okay?"

"Long story short, Kirk and I kind of ended up...attacking Rodney... I'm hiding right now..."

"And Kirk?" Kane felt his voice rise with worry.

A choked sob came from Elouise's end. "I-I don't know."

"Okay, it's okay." Kane hesitated, thinking. "Just focus on you."

"I really don't care about me right now!" Her voice cracked.

"We need to get you out of there."

"D-d-do you have a plan?"

"I'm getting the helicopter prepped. I need you to make your way to the roof."

"With Artemis?"

"Oh, yes!" Kane slapped his forehead. "I'll need you to get Artemis out."

In spite of the situation, Elouise chuckled. "You and Kirk can actually be fairly similar."

"What?"

"N-nothing."

"Okay. Anyway, how easily can you get Artemis out?"

"Well... It'll be tough getting her and making it to the top, but I should be able to manage it..."

"Okay, good. Be careful."

 **(...)**

"Got it. Thanks." Elouise turned off the communicator, glanced around to make sure no one was near her, and quietly crept out from her hiding spot.

The place was mostly quiet as she ran fleetly down to the prison. She grabbed the keys to the cells and quietly opened the door. "Artemis!" she hissed.

Suddenly, a hand went over her mouth. She tried to scream, but of course, nothing happened.

"I'm not surprised," the familiar voice snarled in her ear. "My sister's a traitor."

Elouise gave a muffled growl. _David._

"I heard your whole conversation with that O.W.C.A. person," David sneered. "I'm taking you to Rodney."

Elouise began struggling hard. She knew what would happen if David took her to Rodney and told him everything...

Unfortunately, she couldn't break her brother's grasp as he dragged her back up to the room she had recently escaped from- especially with the animal arm he had gotten in his experiments.

She was taken back up to the room quickly...too quickly. Rodney was still unable to stand, but Kirk was back up on his feet and in the custody of another scientist.

"This one's a traitor," David snarled, shaking Elouise. "I heard her talking to someone at O.W.C.A."

Rodney's eyes widened then narrowed. "A spy. For how long?"

Elouise glared. "Like I'd tell you." She had to avoid the hurt glare Kirk gave her.

"O.W.C.A." Rodney heaved a sigh. "What did they offer you?"

"A chance to leave," Elouise snapped. "I hated it here. I'm not evil!"

"So how much of your time here has been a lie?!" Kirk yelled. Elouise looked away from Kirk and didn't reply.

Kirk felt a sting in his chest. "So all of this...helping me with the ray, spending time with me... It was because you were a spy?"

"Not all of it."

Kirk was humiliated to feel tears running down his face. "You just wanted information!" he yelled. "Was it my brother? I BET it was Kane!"

Elouise could feel tears forming in her own eyes. "K-Kirk..."

"I-I don't even know what else to say right now..." Kirk took a deep breath and tried to steady himself, but his legs felt like jelly and his entire chest area was aching.

Rodney sighed and shook his head. "You always seem to choose the wrong thing, Kirk."

Kirk shook his head weakly. "No. Sh-she may have been lying to me and using me for information, but... Elouise is not the wrong thing."

Elouise blushed and looked at the ground. Kirk sighed and shook his head. _She's a traitor, so why do I still love her?_ He froze. _I...love her..._

That thought kept being repeated in his mind. _I love her. I love her. We've only been close for a day or so, but I love her. She's a traitor, but I love her. She's been lying to me and secretly reporting information to my brother, but I love her._

 _I really love her._

Rodney let out a "heh". "You really are hopeless, Kirk. Weak, pathetic. You'll never be a good L. O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. scientist."

"Maybe I don't want to be one," Kirk replied coldly.

Rodney's eyes narrowed. "Then you will be considered a traitor and you will die as one. Just like this filthy girl." He waved his hand at Elouise.

"Don't you dare insult her like that!" Kirk snapped.

"Why do you care?" Rodney asked coolly. "She betrayed you and used you and lied to you. Why do you even care what happens to her?"

"Because I-." Kirk stopped and inhaled deeply. "Because I love her."

Elouise's eyes widened, and she gasped, placing a hand to her mouth. Even Rodney stared at Kirk, who had his head bowed. "I love her," he repeated. "Th-that's all I can say...I love her..."

"K-Kirk..." Elouise murmured.

"It doesn't matter if she doesn't love me back," Kirk whispered. "I-I can live with that. Just don't hurt her, please."

Rodney scoffed. "Pathetic, Kirk. But now you have to pick. The woman you 'love' or L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N?"

"I don't care what happens to me," Kirk replied. "But I do care what happens to her. So I choose this."

He wrenched himself free from his captor's grip and swiftly grabbed a laser gun off the scientist. Shooting Rodney in the shoulder, he charged towards David and shot him in the shoulder too, freeing Elouise. Kirk grabbed her wrist and, firing a few more shots at the scientists around them, pulled her through the open door.

"K-K-Kirk!" she gasped as they ran. "Y-y-y-you...?!"

"I may not be able to forgive you for lying to me right now, but I still love you. If I'd chosen L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, they would have killed you, and I couldn't let that happen."

Elouise gave him a small smile. He returned it. "Now... What do we do?"

"Get Artemis," Elouise answered, taking the lead and racing for the prison.

"Who?"

"A prisoner here."

"Why?"

Elouise hesitated. "Before David caught me, I... I had been talking to Kane. I explained the situation to him; he's getting a rescue helicopter ready, and we need to get Artemis and get to the roof."

"Kane's getting you out?" Kirk stopped abruptly. "That's where you were going?"

"I had been going to get Artemis first, but... Yeah."

"Of course Kane's getting you out." Kirk's gaze darkened. "He cares about YOU, clearly."

Elouise gripped Kirk's hand. "He's getting you, too."

"Why would he?" Kirk asked miserably. "He hates me."

"Kirk, what do you-" Elouise exhaled. "What on earth makes you think that?!"

"He's O.W.C.A, I'm L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. Need I say more?"

"Kirk..." Elouise sighed and looked Kirk in the eye. "He doesn't hate you. He misses you."

"Why would he miss me?" Kirk sighed.

"Because... He's your BROTHER."

"That doesn't mean anything." Kirk wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "We're wasting time; let's go."

Elouise watched sympathetically and sadly as he continued to run down to the prison. Then she followed.

 **I'm not even going to comment on all of this….**


	13. Chapter 13

Miraculously, they didn't run into any L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. members on their way to the cells. Kane unlocked the door- the idiots who called themselves scientists hadn't done anything with the keys yet- and the two crept in.

Artemis looked up as they came in. "You're back," she said. "I would have thought you'd have been killed by those guys."

"I-I-I almost was," replied Elouise shakily.

Artemis's eyes narrowed as she spotted Kirk. "You're Kane's evil brother," she said. "The L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. scientist."

Kirk bowed his head and said nothing. "H-he's not evil," Elouise replied quickly, shaking her head. "He's coming with us."

Artemis scowled. "If you say so, but I don't trust either of you."

Elouise looked away. "Well, if you'd rather, we could leave you here and just go ourselves..."

"I get it," Artemis sighed. "But it doesn't mean I have to trust you," she added.

"Fair enough," Elouise admitted. Kirk handed her the keys, and she quickly unlocked the cell.

Artemis stood up and shook her legs. "Let's go."

Getting to the roof was harder than getting to the prison had been- they had gone down the building's floors to get to the prisons, and the roof, well...

"This is going to be so fun," Kirk said sarcastically.

Elouise gripped his hand, surprising both of them. "We'll make it if we're fast."

Kirk nodded and took Artemis' hand with his other hand. She looked surprised briefly, but covered it up.

"So we don't get separated," Kirk explained.

Artemis' eyes narrowed. "Alright."

"Alright, run on three." Elouise tensed. "One. Two. THREE."

The three of them raced to the roof. They had come face to face with one scientist on the fifth floor or so, but Elouise had shot him in the shoulder with the gun- which Kirk had slipped to her on their way down to the prison. As they got nearer, they heard the noise of a helicopter.

They managed to make it to the roof, and they spotted an O.W.C.A. helicopter lowering to the rooftop. Elouise spotted Kane flying it. When he spotted them, he released the ladder.

"Ladies first," Kirk grinned, taking the gun back from Elouise and turning to the entrance. Elouise allowed Artemis to go first, then she grabbed the rungs and began hauling herself up after her.

Once they were a ways up, Elouise looked down at Kirk, who was shooting at the scientists who were finally managing to catch up. "Kirk, come on!" she yelled over the noise of the blades.

Kirk waited until the very last minute, before bolting. He leapt for the ladder as it left the roof, catching hold of the last rung.

Elouise let out a small yelp as it caused the helicopter to swerve a tiny bit- she never felt very comfortable on ladders, especially rope ones that were part of a moving helicopter high in the air.

Suddenly, there was a small explosion, which rocked the whole helicopter. "What was that?!" Elouise heard Artemis yell to Kane.

"We've been hit!" Kane yelled. "We're losing altitude! There's too much weight."

Kirk had apparently heard that. "It's me..." he said, just barely loud enough for Elouise to hear.

"What?" Elouise stared down at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm the lowest down," Kirk said sadly. "If I let go-"

"Don't you dare!" Elouise snapped. "We're too high in the air!"

"But if someone doesn't, we'll crash!" Kirk looked down. "It-it is quite high..."

"Kirk, no! We'll find a way to prevent a crash, but risking your own life isn't it!"

"We don't have time to discuss this!" Kirk looked up into Elouise's eyes. "I love you, Elouise."

"Kirk, no!" Elouise yelled again, feeling tears come into her eyes.

"Please... If you love me... Please say it to me... Just once..."

"Kirk..." Elouise could feel the tears dripping down her cheeks, and she didn't bother stopping them. "I-I do. I l-love you. And that's why YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

Kirk gave a half smile. "I've never said this to you before, so I'll say it now: you're very beautiful."

With that, his fingers loosened, and he dropped like a stone into the forest below.

"KIRK!" Elouise screamed, reaching down to try and catch him. But it was completely in vain- he was gone. Elouise sobbed and rested her head on the rung above her. _Kirk..._

"What happened?!" Kane yelled down. Elouise couldn't speak, and even Artemis was staring down in shock. "Artemis, Elouise, what happened?!"

 _How am I supposed to tell him?_ thought Elouise quietly as her head continued to rest on the rung, tears dripping uncontrollably down her cheeks.

Kane managed a glance downward, and his heart stopped when he saw that he only had two passengers. "Where on earth is Kirk?!" he yelled.

Elouise broke down into audible sobs again. Artemis hesitated. "H-H-He... He's gone..."

"WHERE?!"

"H-he's a hero... He jumped down into the forest so we could escape..."

"WE NEED TO GO BACK FOR HIM!" Elouise screamed brokenly.

"We-we can't..." Kane felt broken inside, himself, but he had to think rationally. "Th-there's no way he could have survived..."

"H-he must have!" Elouise sounded desperate. "WE NEED TO GET BACK TO HIM!" she yelled again, her voice cracking.

"Elouise, I know how you're feeling!" Kane yelled back to her. "But we have to be realistic!" Elouise closed her eyes and sobbed.

The ride back to O.W.C.A. felt like it took forever, when, in reality, it only took Kane about seven minutes in the helicopter.

As soon as Elouise's feet touched the concrete helipad, she felt her legs buckle, and she collapsed to her hands and knees, watching the tears drip onto the hard, white concrete.

Artemis bent down next to her and hugged her gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Elouise shakily shook her head. "N-No. He's still out there somewhere. I'm going back, and I'm going to find him."

Kane disembarked from the helicopter just in time to catch Elouise as she tried and failed to get up. "He's gone," he said firmly, tears rolling down his own cheeks. "We were a hundred feet up; he couldn't have survived."

"But he-"

"Even if he did miraculously survive that, you won't find him. If he did manage to survive the fall, then either L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. will find him soon, or he'll be long gone from where we left him when you get back."

Elouise didn't want to accept it. Her mind and chest were numb. She glanced up at Kane, and then her vision went black and she collapsed sideways.

 **…..**


	14. Chapter 14

**And I've already reached the last chapter in this story xD xD xD But it doesn't end on a happy note… I:} I:}**

When she woke up again, she was in what appeared to be similar to a doctor's office, lying on a cot. An older woman with grayish-silver hair was sympathetically looking down at her- a young man with blonde hair was standing next to the woman.

"How are you feeling, darling?" the older woman asked gently.

"Dizzy..." Elouise groaned. "A-a little sick to my stomach..."

"Understandable," the woman said sympathetically.

The man strode forwards and gently squeezed Elouise's shoulder. "Thank you for bringing my sister back to me."

Elouise put her hand to her head. "You... You're Artemis' brother?"

The man nodded and smiled. "I'm Apollo, and this is Katrina. We're O.W.C.A's doctors. You saved my sister."

Elouise smile weakly. "I'm glad I was able to help." Her smile faded. "I just wish I could have saved more than one person."

Apollo and Katrina exchanged a sad look. They had heard from Kane what had happened to poor Kirk, and they both felt very sympathetic towards Kane and Elouise.

Thinking about it made Elouise break down into tears again. Apollo and Katrina moved to either side of her and both gave her a comforting hug.

"H-he can't be g-g-gone," Elouise finally managed to choke out.

"Oh, darling, I'm so sorry," Katrina murmured.

Poor Elouise had a headache from crying so much, but she didn't care. The man she loved was gone, and he was never coming back.

"Maybe you should see Artemis," Apollo suggested gently after a few minutes.

"N-n-no," sniffled Elouise finally, wiping her tears away- only for more to take their place. "Not for a couple of days, anyway. I know it won't help me right now."

"I think the best thing is for you to be alone for a while, darling," Katrina said quietly. "It'll let you come to terms with your grief and allow you to let it all out in any way you wish." She turned to Apollo. "Can you go and ask Kane if there's an apartment or something nearby that Elouise can move into for a while?"

"Of course." Apollo quietly got up and left the room.

"I-I-I have a house..." Elouise's voice cracked.

"But that's one place L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. will go to find you, and they probably won't stop looking for a couple of days," Katrina reminded gently.

Elouise knew Katrina was right, and she didn't have the strength to argue anyway. She buried her face in her pillow and closed her eyes, hoping she would sleep. She needed a break from her emotions. She felt Katrina gently rubbing her side, and that helped her drift off to sleep.

But when she did sleep, it was fitful and full of nightmares about Kirk. The moment in which he had let go of the ladder and fallen was cemented in her mind, and it did not leave her alone.

Why did this hurt her so much? They had only known each other for a few days. Elouise had loved Kirk, but that's what she didn't get. How has she fallen for him in only a couple days?

Maybe it was the fact that Kirk had been a lost soul, and she had saved him. _You saved him_ , said her brain subconsciously. _He was lost, and you found him. You allowed him into your heart and, in turn, he allowed you into his. THAT is why you fell for each other._

Elouise moaned, tossing and turning. _I don't want to think about this!_ But try as she might, she couldn't get her brain to think about anything else.

Luckily, Katrina seemed to sense she was struggling soon, as Elouise soon found herself being gently shaken awake. She looked blearily up at the doctor, trying to ignore her body's shakes and the sweat that drenched her face and shoulders.

"Darling... Apollo said that Kane told him that there's an apartment building across from O.W.C.A, with already furnished apartments. You can stay there," Katrina said sympathetically. "Do you need help getting there?"

Elouise blinked several times, trying to clear her blurry vision. The pounding in her head didn't help either. "I-I think I'll manage, thanks."

Katrina studied Elouise gently. "If you're sure, sweetheart," she sighed finally.

Elouise managed a smile. "Thank you for helping me."

Katrina gave her a warm smile. "My pleasure, darling. If you ever need to talk to someone or need more help with this... Well... Artemis' doors aren't the only ones that are always open." Katrina gave her a wink.

Elouise maintained her weak smile until she got out of bed and made it to the door. She leant against the door, breathing heavily. She wasn't sure if she could walk, but she was definitely going to try.

First, she needed to talk to Kane. Not just to get the needed information about the apartment she would be staying in, but to check on him and see how he was doing. Knowing that she wasn't alone in her grief made her feel a little bit better.

Elouise closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and forced herself to go look for Kane. She had to ask directions twice, but she eventually found Kane's office. Opening the door slowly, she found Kane slouched in his swivel chair, staring up at the ceiling. A laptop was open in front of him, but the screen was black; clearly it hadn't been interacted with in several minutes, at least.

"K-K-Kane?"

He started in his chair and quickly wiped his eyes with his fingers. "Oh, Elouise. You're here for details about your apartment?" He stood up and went over to a cupboard with drawers in it, beginning to rifle through one of the drawers. "I have your key somewhere..."

Elouise could tell he was deliberately trying to keep himself busy. "Kane... How are you doing?"

Kane glanced at her and took in her sleepless, grieved, and agitated appearance. "Just as well as you."

Elouise bit her lip and looked at the ground as more tears came into her eyes. "Neither of us are coping very well," sighed Kane. "You, arguably, were closer to Kirk when he..."

"Y-Y-yeah... But he was your brother..." Elouise felt herself begin to shake again. "I-it's just..."

Kane moved closer to Elouise and put his arm around her. "It's just what?" he asked gently.

"I..." Elouise hesitated. "K-Kane... He... I... I-I loved him." She burst into tears again. "I actually, truly loved him." Kane's eyebrows raised, but all he did was gently tilt Elouise's head onto his shoulder so that she could cry freely.

"A-a-and w-w-w-when he d-d-di-" Elouise let out a shuddery breath. She couldn't bring herself to say it. "I-I-I think he still felt hurt that I had been a spy. That's one of the things that bugs me so much about this. I..." Her voice cracked. "I never got to tell him that I hadn't been using him. I-I feel like such an a-awful person."

"You're not a horrible person, Elouise. You were doing what you had to to get out of that abusive place. If anything, it's my fault for asking you to watch Kirk so closely."

Despite her tears, Elouise managed to chuckle weakly. "Don't feel bad at all about that."

"Honestly, Elouise, it's more my fault than yours, so don't you feel bad about it either, okay?"

Elouise inhaled deeply and nodded shakily. "O-o-okay." She lifted her head off of Kane's shoulder and quickly wiped her tears away- something she had quickly gotten used to. "S-s-sorry about that."

Kane smiled weakly. "It's okay. I'm only just keeping myself from crying, anyway. I'm about two seconds away from losing it." His voice grew higher by the end of his second sentence, illustrating his point.

"Kane..." Now it was Elouise's turn to hug HIM gently.

"We'll get through this together," she said. "Okay?"

Kane smiled bravely, trying to ignore the tears that were dripping down his face. "O-okay..."

"S-So..." Elouise took a shuddery breath in. "Would you mind telling me about the apartment?"

"It's nice. Fairly small, but it's got a fair-sized kitchen, a small living area with a television, and a separate bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, which has a separate shower and bath. In fact, I think the bathroom might be the biggest room in the place..."

Elouise chuckled weakly. "What's its number? A-and could I have the key?"

"It's number 501," Kane replied. "And of course you can have the key." He went back over to the drawer and resumed his search.

"Thanks."

"Take as long as you need there. If L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. do anything of interest while you're there, I'll tell you."

"Okay." Elouise sighed. "Thanks," she said again.

 **(...)**

She opened the door to the apartment and looked in. It was small and cute, and exactly as Kane described it.

Elouise closed the door behind her. She couldn't do this anymore. Her legs turned to jelly again, and she collapsed to the floor, tears filling her eyes again. Kirk was gone.

Little did she know, a figure had been quietly watching her enter the building. He turned away, tears in his eyes, and limped off.

 **TO BE CONTINUED IN THE SEQUEL (You'll know it when you see it ;P)**


End file.
